› added 12 years ago

210

TIL the most recent beheading for sorcery in Saudi Arabia was in 2012.

Read more content.usatoday.com

via reddit.com

M7XJ0 TIL the very first draft of Star Wars: A New Hope was a two-page outline called "The Journal of the Whills". It would be about the adventures of Mace Windy, a "Jedi-Bendu" from Planet Ophuchi, and his "padawaan learner", a 16-year-old boy called C.J. Thorpe.
LKWZ TIL during the war of 1812 the patent office clerk threw himself in front of soldiers and successfully convinced them to spare the office, for knowledge benefits the entire world.
5YjLk TIL that precious metals like gold can be artificially created in particle accelerators. Basically lighter atoms are bombarded with neutrons and electrons making them turn into heavier atoms which then decay into the desired metal. Unfortunately, the process is extremely expensive.
rRd6W TIL that Charles Darwin wrote a list of pros and cons of marriage. Pros included "constant companion and a friend in old age... better than a dog anyhow". Cons included "less money for books". When he visited his future wife he forgot to propose because he was too busy telling her about evolution
44y6 TIL Del Close, improv teacher of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Bill Murray, said on his deathbed, “I’m tired of being the funniest person in the room.”